Auto Club Dragway is Back in Business

Auto Club Dragway Dedicates a Sound Wall That Will Keep Racers and Neighbors Happy

KJ JonesSenior Technical Editor

February 18, 2014

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KJ Jones

At the end of the day, you just can’t keep a good drag strip down! That definitely seems to be true in Southern California, as the once-thought-to-be-finished Auto Club Dragway in Fontana is back in action, after a 2-year shutdown that many thought—based on the area’s the long history of permanently closed tracks—would be forever (we actually were among the last people to race on the track [at a private track rental] before it was ordered closed, in March of 2012. An in-car video of our Project T-top Coupe’s last run on Fontana can be seen here: http://youtu.be/2hrcYfuwqz8).

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That’s not the case this time. On Saturday, February 15, 2014, racers, fans, sponsors and dignitaries that included 2012 NHRA World Champion Funny Car driver, “Fast” Jack Beckman, returned to the ‘strip for its “Open House;” an event held to celebrate the LA-area’s only quarter-mile drag track’s return to regular operation, which was made possible by support from the NHRA, Automobile Club of Southern California, and SEMA, and through the construction of the facility’s new “Sound Wall;” a 25-foot-tall, nearly 2,000-foot-long series of concrete panels that was erected as part of a lawsuit settlement with area residents, who were upset about the noise that emanated from the track each weekend.

The roar of race engines and squeal of blazing tires officially begins at Auto Club Dragway starting Saturday, February 22, 2014, with the return of the widely popular “Street Legal Drags” program. In addition to the Street Legals, and several Open Test-and-Tune dates, the track’s impressive 2014 schedule includes events held by the NMCA West and Pacific Street Car Association, which both feature “Mustang Madness” classes (Open Comp-style index categories) for West Coast ‘Stangbangers and Ponies to race in.